What was your worst injury on the trail?

[GoldenBear]

But I seriously doubt I would torn my MCL if I hadn't been hiking on The Trail.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/entr...he-best-timing

I asked my ortho-doctor if he had an idea on HOW I got this injury. All he could say was that it was non-traumatic (ie, it didn't happen all at once) and that it was not recent.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Lyme disease was fun...

[hobby]

Was on a quick overnight to Low Gap. As I started up an incline, I cinched by hipbelt tighter. Suddenly an intense pain in by stomach. I felt my abdomen and had a protrusion from my belly button, like a knuckle sticking out . I knew that this was an umbilical hernia. I spent about 10 minutes getting it reduced and the pain subsided. Debated whether to go on or return to the car. I decided to continue on to Low Gap without the hipbelt. Spent the night and returned to Hog Pen gap the next day........Had hernia repair the next week. Getting older is not for the faint of heart!!

[tpike2]

I did a weekend hike a few weeks ago. I had a pulled groin that was preexisting, and I guess the weight of the pack placed a lot of strain on my left knee. Sucker hurt for a good week after the hike. Started out of Franklin I think Deep Creek to Clingman's Dome 1,500' to 6,600 spent a day and a half 12-13 miles going up the Nolan Divide. Demoralizing!! My concern is what happens when I start hiking this thing, and on day one I get that bad boy aggravated again. Going home isn't an option. I either finish or I am coming back on a stretcher.

[Trailweaver]

I tore the big ligament in my hip a few years ago when a rock slid under my foot as I was going down a slope. It has continued to give me problems with weight bearing, and not much I've done has helped. (I have seen 2 docs for it.).

But the "biggie" injury was a broken leg that required two surgeries, 4 specialists, a bone graft, and titanium to repair. The accident was in my back yard. I am ever so happy it wasn't on the trail.

[tiptoe]

Broken ankle in 2011 in NH's Carter Range, right after Hurricane Irene. After surgery, rehab, and lots of walking, I returned to AT hiking last spring in Virginia and things went pretty well. The ankle is not as it was, but it's very serviceable, and for that I'm very grateful.

[Marta]

Knee problems are pretty much a constant thing for me. I just keep limping down the trail and it'll get better after a while, until the next round.

I got into a nest of yellow jackets one September near Fontana. Got about 35 stings. I felt pretty crummy for a couple of days after that. I also started carrying a fair amount of Benadryl with me, one of the few components in my very sparse first aid kit. I've never had an allergic reaction to stings, but if I (or anyone around me) did, I'd need the Benadryl sooner rather than later.

[-SEEKER-]

June 27, 2013: In the Whites, lost my balance, twisted my ankle and fell backwards resulting in a tibial plateau fracture. I just thought my knee was acting up so I hiked for three more days including The Wildcats. Finally my leg kept giving out and the pain was too much so I came home. Went to the ortho doctor three days later. Had an MRI and discovered the fracture.

[Different Socks]

Shinsplints on th AT. Had to get off for 2 weeks to let them heal. Now whenever my shins start to ache, I listen and slow down when going down hill. Hasn't stopped or slowed me down since then(1992).

[sadlowskiadam]

I encountered plantar fasciitis in both feet and patella tendonitis in both knees on my thru last year. I returned home in the middle of October and my feet did not heal until December. I still have some lingering pain in my knees, but they have gotten better, although I'm still not 100%.

[Spirit Walker]

AT1 - tendinitis in my ankle. It healed with a couple of days rest.
AT2 - knee issues that started with first hike but got much worse the second time around. I lived with it. Still is a problem on steep trails. DH broke a wrist doing a somersault in Maine. He kept hiking.
CDT1 - rock slide took off the end of my finger and broke it. Got stitches and kept hiking. DH threw a clot in his leg. The week off for my finger gave time to heal his leg.
PCT1 - sprained ankle on day 1. Husband broke a toe a couple of weeks later. Then he developed Morton's Neuroma. We kept hiking.
PCT2 - DH tore the meniscus in his good knee. We flew home for surgery. A year later, we left the trail again because of issues with his artificial knee.

[ladydi]

My most ignominious injury was a cracked tooth which sent me home in '02. I had to have an extraction and was then told NOT to go out until everything healed...which took awhile. I did go back later that year and summitted Katahdin before anything else could happen... (I never told my DH that I went solo.) The next year I went to finish the wilderness, I tore the meniscus in my right knee on the way up to Rainbow Ledges. It just went "pop" and wibbled around. I was able to keep on hiking, but more slowly. A very kind fellow, Doug, loaned me a knee brace, and carried my pack across the stream in front of the shelter. I made it to Abol Bridge, where my car was parked. So it's been patch, patch, patch from then on...sigh.

[evyck da fleet]

Overuse injuries. I had a knot behind my shin that I could not massage out which required 4 days of rest at Trail Days. I also had both my Achilles tendons swell up from time to time between WV and NH.